When building a college football program, sometimes one must take baby steps.

Don't tell that to RPI. Under new head coach Ralph Isernia, the Engineers believe they have hit the ground running as they prepare for their Sept. 7 opener against Norwich at home.

"I don't think I've had a chance to sit back and reflect on it; it's really been one event after another," said Isernia of his first head-coaching position. "When I first came on board, we needed to finish up recruiting. I think we landed a really great recruiting class. After that we went right into spring practice, we were recruiting over the summer, had to move the family up here, hire some new coaches and then we moved right into training camp."

Isernia was hired this past March to replace Bob Bodor, the Engineer's interim coach last season.

He arrived from Ferrum (Va.) College, where he was offensive coordinator for the Division III school.

Fortunately for Isernia, he has a solid group of seniors accustomed to learning on the fly. Isernia is RPI's fifth coach in four years.

Isernia said captains Ted Abriel, a defensive lineman, and Joe Cozzolino, a tight end, were "instrumental in keep things together with so much uncertainty going on."

Abriel, a Bethlehem High graduate, said he's embraced his role as a leader.

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"It means a lot," he said Friday at the team's annual media day. "It means all the guys behind me have put a lot of trust in me. They all look up to me as a leader."

"It's definitely a big honor," he said. "It's definitely a privilege to be chosen by my teammates as a captain. We have a lot of great senior leadership on this team with all of our seniors."

Cozzolino said spring practices allowed the team to gel, and Abriel said there have been no problems adjusting to a new coaching staff.

"Its been great, the coaches mesh really well with us," Abriel said. "They came in and really hit the ground running with us. They have a lot of energy, everyone's happy, they've thrown a lot of fast-paced stuff at us, but we're taking it well and we're having a lot of fun out here playing football."

Isernia, who worked at seven schools during his 22-year coaching career, can relate to his players, he said, because in college he had two different football coaches and three different baseball coaches.

"When you have that type of transition you can do one of two things," Isernia said. "You can split apart as a team or you can galvanize, and that's exactly what these guys did. They got themselves ready to play and mentally prepared for when a new coach comes in.

"Let's just hit the ground running, and that's been a great transition."